Michelle Blackwell meeting one of the wild horses available for adoption at PVC

Fast report from the road:

One of the things we do at Wild Horse Education is take members of various media out on the range. This time we have Michelle Blackwell with us. Michelle is working on a piece tentatively titled “Strong Woman, Wild Horses.” Her piece tells the story of wild horses and burros through the experience of women fighting to gain public attention to the issues. Photographers Elissa Kline, Kimerlee Curyl and Laura Leigh are some of those featured in her piece. Last year Michelle interviewed Laura as she was dealing with breast cancer treatments near Reno. Laura is back on the road and Michelle is with her. This is some of where they have been in the last two days… with much more to come. Laura has a habit of covering a lot of ground.

Weanlings and yearlings (recently weaned and just gelded) available for adoption at PVC

Palomino Valley Center (PVC) Reno:

Palomino Valley Center is the largest BLM short term holding facility open to the public in the US. Capacity of the facility hovers around 2000 wild horses and burros. The usual cycle at PVC is to fill up during “roundup season”  and them empty and fill up again. The last two years, as there as been minimal space in long term holding, PVC has not “emptied.” Many of the wild horses and burros there (that are available for adoption) are ones that Laura has come to know. She shared some of the amazing wild horses with Michelle including the Silver King mares recently shipped to PVC from behind the closed door of Broken Arrow (Fallon). These horses are the ones that began Leigh’s court case for our First Amendment Rights to view and document government handling of wild horses and burros (a case that has already won a landmark decision in the Ninth Circuit in 2012 and is currently in Mediation toward creating a sensible (yet equitable) policy during these tense times for wild horses.

A “three strike” mare available for sale at PVC

However we have some exciting news! PVC has created a “sale” pen for wild horses that have gained three strikes in the adoption program. Most often the public is unaware which wild horses are available under this program. 4 horses were passed over 3 times on the Internet adoption that were houses at Broken Arrow (Fallon). Those horses are now available for public view at PVC! So you now have a chance to not only see them, but to give them a home before they are slated to ship to LTH! This is a huge step toward giving these horses one more chance to find a home outside the system!

Remember these horses have lived almost there entire lives without the benefit of interaction with the public as the ones at PVC have and may need a little extra time to acclimate to new people. The list is a follows:

#1111, 5 year old Sorrel Mare. From Black Rock East (Calico) capture date 1/21/2010 (she was a baby at capture)

#2953 Palomino 4 year old, Born in a holding facility listed 5/11/10 (likely a Calico mare as the winter of 2009/2010 had almost 2000 wild horses enter that facility from Calico)

#3577 Sorrel mare, 5 years old. From New Pass/Ravenswood (Callaghan Complex) 1/12/11

#6196 Sorrel mare, 3 years old. Calico Mountains (11/28/11 as capture date). She was a baby at capture.

Contact PVC if you are interested in purchasing one of these horses.

Virginia Range near Reno, NV

Michelle’s Road Trip with Laura Leigh

As Michelle has filmed horses in sanctuary and holding so we thought it important that she get an idea of the various issues faced by wild horses and burros “where they now presently stand.” Our treasured wild ones exist in multiple legal jurisdictions and management practices vary greatly. Although the vast majority (more than all other jurisdictions combined) are managed by the BLM we thought it important in times when “confusion” can be King, to give Michelle a broad picture (you never know what projects she will take on in the future).

New life oat Sheldon NWR… this family (and all the others) will be gone forever this year

In addition to to BLM HMA’s (where we had a wind storm) we took her to see some Virginia Range horses and those under USFWS that are being removed forever this year… America’s “war horse,” the Sheldon.

Michelle has called this trip “transformative.” She said it has “deepened her resolve” to tell the story of these amazing beings. Michelle’s website is: http://StrongWomenWildHorses.com

As soon as we get a moment (when we get back we need to prep for the next Mediation and issues surround our various legal actions) we will get you fully “briefed.”

~~~

Wild Horse Education is devoted to gaining protection for our wild horses and burros from abuse slaughter and extinction. Help keep us in the fight. http://WildHorseEducation.org